Can someone reccomend a good cheap holiday in Europe?

i_am_job

Requirements are:

Direct flights from Europe.
Cheap(ish) not crazy expensive.
Culture, sights, etc.

NOT for a drinking holiday.

Is it OK for a 21 year old guy to travel on my own on holiday? My friends all want to go on booze and sun holidays to the same fúcking place every year, and the always fob off culture .. it písses me off

so im throwing the floor open to suggestions

lc180

hah it sounds like we have similar friends!

I'm 25 & I've started doing solo trips myself in the last couple years and I can't recommend it more! It's a bit daunting at first but you'll soon get the hang of it

My big recommendation for your first solo trip is pick a large city/region with lots to see and do, this means you have no excuse to be bored at any time.

The reason I say this is because I've been to Milan, its not the biggest city and not a lot of sites, I did all the touristy things really quick and just found myself shopping and having the odd pint here and there. It was quite disappointing.

Cities I loved were Barcelona, Paris and Rome. All huge cities with endless sightseeing and culture. Ryanair fly to each of these from Dublin, I have a keen eye and have managed to get return flights for all of these for under 50euro, in fact Barcelona(Girona) I got for 22euro! Tip: if you go mid-week it's always much cheaper.

Do your research and stay at a good hostel, preferably one that organises walking tours, pub crawls, activities etc etc etc, that way you'll easily meet and socialise with other people on their travels.

I really hope you enjoy your trip wherever you decide to go! I'm busy planning out the activities for my next one. I'm hitting Budapest next month : Flights & 2 nights accomo for 65euro (god bless Ryanair)

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

ardmacha

A few other details needed. Like how long do you want to spend away and at what time of year?

biko

Interrailing is good fun, even on your own.
http://www.interrailnet.com/interrail-passes

Jesus Shaves

i_am_job wrote: »

Requirements are:

Direct flights from Europe.
Cheap(ish) not crazy expensive.
Culture, sights, etc.

NOT for a drinking holiday.

Is it OK for a 21 year old guy to travel on my own on holiday? My friends all want to go on booze and sun holidays to the same fúcking place every year, and the always fob off culture .. it písses me off

so im throwing the floor open to suggestions

lc180 wrote: »

hah it sounds like we have similar friends!

I'm 25 & I've started doing solo trips myself in the last couple years and I can't recommend it more! It's a bit daunting at first but you'll soon get the hang of it

My big recommendation for your first solo trip is pick a large city/region with lots to see and do, this means you have no excuse to be bored at any time.

The reason I say this is because I've been to Milan, its not the biggest city and not a lot of sites, I did all the touristy things really quick and just found myself shopping and having the odd pint here and there. It was quite disappointing.

Cities I loved were Barcelona, Paris and Rome. All huge cities with endless sightseeing and culture. Ryanair fly to each of these from Dublin, I have a keen eye and have managed to get return flights for all of these for under 50euro, in fact Barcelona(Girona) I got for 22euro! Tip: if you go mid-week it's always much cheaper.

Do your research and stay at a good hostel, preferably one that organises walking tours, pub crawls, activities etc etc etc, that way you'll easily meet and socialise with other people on their travels.

I really hope you enjoy your trip wherever you decide to go! I'm busy planning out the activities for my next one. I'm hitting Budapest next month : Flights & 2 nights accomo for 65euro (god bless Ryanair)

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

Ye could both go on holidays together!!!

windingo

Have to agree Barcelona is really good, lots to see and do only had a couple of days would have loved more time there. Although Would recommend Berlin if you want to experience a different culture. Warsaw was one of my favourite holidays there was alot of historical things to see and do (though that maybe isn't your thing).

schemingbohemia

I'd recommend Berlin too, lots of different things to do there. You could pop over to Poland to Poznan also (only a couple of hours on the train).
Or you could do Vienna and Bratislava together.

syklops

What I would do is fly into Prague and stay a couple of days, then get the bus to Bratislav(about 15 euros), stay there a couple of days, then get the Danube cruiser to Vienna(costs about 30 euro, takes 2 hours) stay there a couple days and then fly home.

Lots to see and do, and some really beautiful sights.

billyhead

syklops wrote: »

What I would do is fly into Prague and stay a couple of days, then get the bus to Bratislav(about 15 euros), stay there a couple of days, then get the Danube cruiser to Vienna(costs about 30 euro, takes 2 hours) stay there a couple days and then fly home.

Lots to see and do, and some really beautiful sights.

This sounds like a trip I would like to do. Did you prebook accomodation beofre you travelled and of so was it hotels, hostels etc you stayed in. Also how much roughly would you need to bring with you in cash after flights, travel expenses and accomodation costs?

Lapin

billyhead wrote: »

This sounds like a trip I would like to do. Did you prebook accomodation beofre you travelled and of so was it hotels, hostels etc you stayed in. Also how much roughly would you need to bring with you in cash after flights, travel expenses and accomodation costs?

Go for it Billy. I highly recommend it.
I took this trip a couple of years ago during an Inter Rail traipse around Europe. Booked it the day before, but I don't think it was necessary, and that was in June.
As for shillings, it depends on your own spending intentions, but for food and public transport, you can get by handsomely for about €30 a day.
Double that for ales and jigs at night.

syklops

billyhead wrote: »

This sounds like a trip I would like to do. Did you prebook accomodation beofre you travelled and of so was it hotels, hostels etc you stayed in. Also how much roughly would you need to bring with you in cash after flights, travel expenses and accomodation costs?

I havnt done this exact trip but I live 2 hours from Prague, Bratislava and Vienna so have done parts of this trip at different times.

The debate among my colleagues as to which is better the bus or the train, but I would recommend going by Bus. Its cheap, safe, reliable, and there is free Internet and a movie to watch in case you get bored.

I would stay in the Jurys Inn at Florenc(pronounced Florence) in Prague. A quick google there for a room in june is about 95 euros per night, so if you went out side of the height of season it would be quite a bit less and it wouldn't be so hot. The bus/train station is a 2 minute walk from the hotel so you can easily go and check times.

Stay about 2 or 3 days in Prague then get the bus to Bratislava. I use the Student Agency bus www.studentagency.cz. Unfortunately its a terrible website. One thing to remember when on that site and elsewhere, that in Czech/Slovak, Slovakia is spelt Slovensko. Dont get it confused with Slovenia which is Slovinsko.

Get the bus to Bratislava. For Prague to Brno it costs about 220 czk or about 8.80 eur. I quoted you 15 to Bratislava but its probably more like 12. I know your thinking why is he even mentioning this, but on a holiday like this, your euro will stretch a lot further than at home, and they add up.

I can't recommend a hotel in Bratislava as i have only done day trips, but there seems to be a good selection. Stay a couple of days, then as Lapin said, get the Hydrofoil to Vienna. Again stay a day or two and then fly home.

Chinasea

Romania is a really interesting country to visit and very cheap. The people are extremely friendly and will go out of their way to help you.

Bucharest is a party town too so might be up your street.

Direct flights from Dublin via Blue air or Aer Lingus. Also, good cheap flights back now with Ryan Air to Hungary and you can travel from A to b cheaply also in these countries.